The weekly review is foundational to the Getting Things Done method. You can’t have a mind like water if you don’t trust your tools, and that you haven’t capturing everything. I conduct my weekly reviews on Sunday nights in order to sleep on where I want to focus for the rest of the week. If something prevents this from happening, it definitely hampers my productivity.
Here are the key steps I do when completing a weekly review:
Collect loose papers and materials: I do a lap around my house and car looking for scattered mail, pamphlets, magazines, stuff I bought at a store, etc. that require an action. I bring them up to my office (or write them on a post it) to put in my inbox
Clear my inbox: I then get all of my inboxes to zero (email, and physical) as well as my inbox in OmniFocus (task management tool)
Empty your head: I then stare at my empty desk and walls and just think… is there anything I should be doing? Is there anything I meant to do. What did I forget to do? By answering these questions, I usually generate a dozen or so tasks. Sometimes these tasks are new. Sometimes they are duplicates because I get paranoid (this usually happens when I slip completing weekly reviews consistently).
Review completions: I then review every task I marked complete since my last weekly review. This helps me generate next steps that I may have missed capturing, or may be triggered by something I read.
Review calendar: I then review all of my calendar appointments in the last three weeks to identify if there is anywhere for me to follow up on, or if I am still waiting on something. I then do the same thing for the next three weeks do identify anything I need to do to prepare for those meetings, or if there is something that wasn’t a priority earlier that is now becoming a priority due to a relevant meeting.
Review waiting list: I tag tasks I am waiting for others to respond or complete to “waiting for” and tasks that I need to wait until something happens “waiting.” I review these tasks and remove the tags if I need to follow up, or I mark them complete if I am no longer waiting and the task is complete or unneccessary.
Clear task inbox: I then clear out my task inbox again to prepare for the next step
Review project list: I review the tasks for every project and identify what is holding the project up. Is there a task I can add to get this project moving? What do we need to do to get it complete?
Review Due Soon: I take a couple minutes to review tasks that are due within the next three weeks. If it looks like a deadline is too aggressive, I may create a task to renegotiate the due date, or identify tasks that will help me meet the deadline depending on its critical level.
Review Someday/Maybe list: I look at tasks that are ideas and possibilities for inspiration on new tasks, or if the situation has changed and the tasks should now be a priority.
Brainstorm new tasks and ideas: I go back to staring at my wall or empty desk and dream about what I could accomplish. What to I want to do? What can I do? If the ideas are crazy, then I’ll just delete them in the next step or put them in someday maybe if it has potential but isn’t a “right now” idea.
Clear task inbox: I process my inbox one last time.
That’s it! It seems like a lot, but it only takes about 2 hours if my energy level is good and I am not distracted. These two hours make my week more effective, and more than make up for the time spent since it keeps me productive.